Telegram-herald., 1887-06-10
A GREAT BR lDGt
4 sosT sfvpsnoo0s sNrEsFREE



lsp~essl esssspeo4sne
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Fs~ p~opls are ssss assssas&ls harfsssef. 7
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noe ss&ng on ~ fssasske<fsss ~iAs fsfsssnas
- > rsilro@s ero~elssx osss Tie Enasns fEvss.
TszE pEvjess - bfstxv tia ltess - ti.at "a y
has he~a ffesaeutls szlke1 a s,ig&ef every
besy kbows The pppositloa - e. whicA al
GAYS ksps@zls shsa ANY bristxe eatsssoxx 20
eru~s any nssiSsbis stfearp. has teae ssoFs
tb4n saysEinx 10 cxl 4 ~ rezsssli aktenlion
bzE es~s Eos ths nA@ssltads u It's sanesae =
hardy rssila~l by tks general pubiie. Wien
IL : remembered. however, that the distanos
from shose - shore II that point is 5, ess
feet. that ~ approaches on the Poeghksef-
sie SIDE -oonstsE Of a siasl0cf ~ 500 feet IN
lengsh, whale en- the west si1s the Hpproecbes
add 900 fest naore--nsaking IN AZ one AID
one haH miles slnless--lt viii ~ sesn thai ths
brlige l. % take rank zs oae II the grestest
structures II The kind Ia Tie wefld one
bridge oaly, II l. said, viii he longer, aud
that Is the bridge over the Firth of Forth in
Great Britain, whirh il Ia progress, bat
which IS not yet buiit-
few DAYS since, an the invitation cf Mr..
J. d. Platt, editor Of The PoaghkeepSie Daily
Eagle, joined company Of l5o, who. avail
ing themselves Of the steamboat g. ;. Has
brouck and one OF the Ileasantest Of May
days. made free aud easy excursion around
the piers aud cribs q ne bridge and for some
distance above and below the bridge
site. The activity of the nlen engaged in
ths construction Of this great work was
thus easily seen. About 100 are now
employed ON the spot, which fesoe is soon to
bs increased one-third, until 1000 are at
work away and in shops ON the iron and
steel which is 10 90 into il.
The promoters Of this bridge have already
gone through with quite history ia its behalf.
The company Was organized first in a legal
way in 1871; and tho amended act in ls72
permitted the placing of four piers in the
river, ''at distances OF not less than 500 feet
apart In 1913 the work was begun. bat the
financial panic which soon followed pat an
early quietus upon il ! Several years later it
was taken up again, when other difficulties
called it TO halt Last year however, new
and extensive capital ~ss enlisted; and IL is
under the impetus Of This accession that the
structure is going so rapidly up. Unless the
charter is extended-though it is expected
this favor will be shown-the whole work
must be ready for use by Jan /, 1897. Hence
the present tumultuous hurry and rush Of the
builders seen from either shore.
The present situation is this: The shoro
piers, consisting each one OF three smaller
piers, are built up from the rock to a height
of forty five feet above high watern The
river piers Ito be carried down to a depth OF
from l25 10 l35 feet below the surface, are all
uRder way. In doing this part Of the work
open caissons OF timber are built 80 feet wide
by 100 feet long, weighted by having pockets
filed with concrete, and sunk by dredging
through the open spaces, which are twelve
in number i'm each csissonn This is differ
ent method from that used in the Brooklyn
and St Louis bridges; and, while it
is more effective, it is said not to
involve the danger and expense which
the pneumatic caissons do. CAS- the caissons
sink they are built upby additions from the
top, so that when the lower edges rest upon
| the solid sutstr&tum underlying the mud and
silt at the bottom of tlse river the top will be
about twenty feet below the surface. The
| open spaces are then filed with concrete, the
| top leveled and solid platform laid upon it,
and then masonry built on this" The piers,
when completed, will have their length Of
eighty feet parallel with tine river. They
| will be twenty five feet wide, and will stand
thirty feet above the surface.
The pier farthest west in the river was
| nearly completed years ago. The caisson for
| the one next 10 it is done, and .the work of
| dredging is going on. 1t is nearly down TO
| its final position, the top being already sew
| eral feet above the surface" The third cais-
son is placed and is being forced down, and
caisson No. is about completed. The piles
| of timber and the car loads not yet thrown
| Off ON the west shore make AN impressive
sight
Although the bridge, properly so called, is
to be of steel, the false work and the wood
| sunken make heavy inroads on the forest.
| The massive substructures viii contain"
alone about 40, ,000,0 900 feet of timber" To
| this add &c, 900 cubic yards of concrete and
| -, 600 yards OF masonry' Is additions TO the
| iron and steel components- From the various
piers steel towers 200 feet high will be erected
| The height Of the under side of the trusses
above the water viii be l30 feet. There will
| be two rectangular steel truss spans, each Of
| 525 feet and 80 feet high. The three remain
| ing spans are cantilevers, the cantilever arms
| being lG0 feet each. and the connecting tgusses
| 2l2 feet The height Of the connecting trusses
| will be 162 feet from the water surface, and
| the height of the rail On top 2i2 feet. The
cantilevers extending from the river piers
| viii be counterbalanced by the rectangular
| trisses, and those on the shore pieces by in
shore arms. each 200 fest long. attached to
| the anchorages / have not myself OF
course, made these measurements but Mr..
| Platt, who made it possible TO see the work in
| its progress from every point of view, kindly
| furnished the statistics. I should have sad.
4 however. before finishing with figures. that
I the viaducts are 10 be Of iron, and that @about
| 1900 tons Of steel and over 5000 tons OK
iron are 70 20 into the structure.
| The bridge is building 70 connect the coal
| felds and the west more closely with New
| England, and TO make freight expenses
| cheaper by carrying il over the Hudson with
out rehandling II viii have double rail
| wsy track. and win he capable of boiling
| wish entire safety two Continuous trains Il
| esghfy-five ton locomotives. covering the
| whole length OF both tracks. The ultimate
strength Of materials being equal 20 five times
| this strain
It Is problem even IN Pouehkeepsie as 70
what effect the bridge may have upon the
growth Of that city But the general ssIpposi-
ton IS that Il viii be favorable II is clsi rse
| that "a the bridge viii make Poaghk eeFsie
| practically as near the anthracite coal fields
| 90 Wsehswken now is. coal sent 70 New
| York from there viii crrtainlv he compelled
| n cross the river 1T PoughkeepSie- One
thing the recent visit q tat q town spects-
tors settled thoroughly. ~ last foF thsra-
| e<lves. IL fhe pleTx vhlc1 have ~food n TIE
| river for fifteen years hzspe not setfi@3 4 t--
/ fore and that = that t1-free Be~iestfoa Of
| che stream will not be sfsste-a By a ssructurs
1 ls@ this. IL tee Great Esstern could not -
| fbruurh sfile-~~- = ~-z-t- r-~-~-~I1v arsd
| iusfre1 ot sre
UH b more s.2s .-s-ist.- .-s4s sio-
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